


Les Loups D'Argent: Selected Exerpts

by narceus



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Character Death, French literature, Gen, Metafiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-29
Updated: 2013-04-29
Packaged: 2017-12-09 21:34:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/778220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/narceus/pseuds/narceus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Excerpts from the Sparks Notes and course materials surrounding the 19th-century French Romantic bildungsroman, <i>Les Loups d'Argent</i>.</p>
<p>(Or, if Teen Wolf had been written in Paris in the 1860's, this is how cit would go.  An exercise in genre.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Les Loups D'Argent: Selected Exerpts

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to my tumblr [here](http://c-is-for-circinate.tumblr.com/post/34535429165/les-loups-dargent-selected-excerpts). I'm still not entirely sure _what_ this qualifies as.

**  
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/argent**  

  
  
SCOTT MCCALL: A poor student living in Paris who catches the attention of several young members of Parisian high society. The hero of the novel, Scott becomes embroiled in the intrigues of the French aristocracy, though throughout the course of the novel he will never learn to predict or control the world around him. Scott is characterized by his extreme naivete, which is gradually broken down over the course of the novel, and his idealistic belief that all people are basically good. The final chapter suggests that Scott may have lost all hope for human nature after his friend Stilinski dies, but the epilogue suggests otherwise.   
  
MLLE ALLISON ARGENT: Daughter of the Parisian chief of police, Allison is frequently included in the balls and doings of the aristocracy, although she is not a born aristocrat herself. Allison falls madly in love with Scott McCall, and stubbornly resists her mother’s attempts to force her into a favorable marriage ‘above her station,’ calling such attempts degrading and the same as prostitution. When Allison’s mother Victoire, and her best friend Lydia de Martin, conspire to remove Scott from her life, Allison rebels by joining up with Derek Hâle’s revolutionaries and secretly passing information along. When the raid on Derek’s bar,  _Le Souterrain_ , kills several revolutionaries and Derek himself, Allison cuts all ties with her family, but she later refuses to run away with Scott to England, claiming that she does not wish to be dependent on anyone. At the end of the novel, it is discovered that Allison has become a highly sought-after courtesan.   
  
STILINSKI: Childhood friend of Scott McCall. Stilinski is obsessed with the idea of social mobility, and with the Mademoiselle Lydia de Martin, who he hopes to win once he makes his fortune. He is jealous and greatly disillusioned when Scott, not he, is welcomed into high society, and eventually embraces revolutionary ideals and falls in with crime lord Derek Hâle. After assisting Derek with the murder of his uncle, Stilinski spends much of the second half of the novel drunk, a condition he claims is the only reasonable solution to the absurdity of life. He survives the Argent raid on  _Le Souterrain_ , but is badly injured, and dies later of infection.   
  
DEREK HÂLE: A known moneylender, pimp, and crime lord in the slums of Paris. Derek is secretly devoted to revolutionary ideals and plots the overthrow of the upper class. Originally, Derek is a cautious man who cares deeply for those in his employ, in fact he murders his uncle Peter in an attempt to protect several of his thieves and prostitutes from the effects of Peter’s greed. After that he grows more and more reckless and bold in his plans for a revolution. He later kills his lover, Katherine Argent, when he discovers that she has betrayed him. Derek is finally killed in the Argent raid on  _Le Souterrain_.   
  
CHRISTOPHE ARGENT: Chief of police in Paris. He is stern and usually uncompromising. Christophe adheres to a strict code of honor which demands that he pursue only those he is sure are criminals. However he is easily swayed by his wife and his sister, who are far less principled. He is determined to put an end to the Hâle family, and therefore allows his sister Katherine to spy on Derek Hâle while posing as his lover. When Katherine is killed, in his rage Christophe leads a violent raid on  _Le Souterrain_ , but when it is revealed that Katherine was Derek’s lover, Christophe is stripped of his post. After his wife Victoire commits suicide, Christophe eventually dies, alone and in disgrace.   
  
KATHERINE ARGENT: The unmarried sister of Christophe Argent, Katherine spent much of her life caring for their aging father. After his death, she becomes a part of Christophe’s household. She is fanatically dedicated to the idea that the world should be rid of all its criminals. She continually pushes Christophe to be more ruthless in his dealings with the criminal underworld of Paris. Katherine insists upon going in secret to meet with Derek Hâle, whom she seduces. She convinces Derek to kill his uncle, and then remains his lover, passing information on to her brother, until Derek discovers the truth and kills her.   
  
PETER HÂLE: Derek’s uncle, a thief and con artist. Peter is characterized by almost pure self-serving greed, and comes into conflict with Derek several times over the course of the novel. He plots to use several of Derek’s thieves and prostitutes as distractions and scapegoats in a scheme to make himself even richer, and Derek, with the help of Stillinski, kills him to prevent it.   
  
MME VICTOIRE ARGENT: Wife of Christophe, mother of Allison. Victoire is even more stern and relentless than her husband. She is determined to see Allison marry above her class, and conspires with Lydia de Martin to separate Allison from Scott McCall. After the disgrace of Katherine’s death and Christophe losing his position, Victoire kills herself, she says, to spare Allison the pain of facing her disgraced parents.   
  
MLLE LYDIA DE MARTIN: Daughter of a wealthy Parisian aristocrat, Lydia de Martin is one of the most sought-after young women of French high society. She is bubbly and absent-minded on the surface, but proves to be highly intelligent and extremely manipulative. Lydia considers it a game to manipulate the lives of those around her, largely due to boredom. She is known for her parties, which are the talk of the society. She is also Allison’s best friend, and conspires with Victoire Argent to break Allison and Scott apart, in hopes that Allison will marry a wealthier suitor.   
  
LORD JACKSON WHITTEMORE: The son of a British Lord, Jackson is brash and arrogant. He is Lydia’s greatest suitor.   
  
DANIEL: A friend of Jackson’s, a member of the French aristocracy. It is heavily implied that Daniel is homosexual, and the precise nature of his relationship with Jackson is unclear.   
  
ERICA: A prostitute in Derek Hâle’s employ, she is particularly fond of Stilinski.   
  
ISAAC: A prostitute and an enforcer in Derek Hâle’s employ.   
  
VERNON BOYD: An enforcer in Derek Hâle’s employ. He is also the most prominent character in the Hâle empire to survive to the epilogue, where it is implied that he has taken over running the crime syndicate himself.   
  
  
…..   
  
  
 **Chapters VII-IX**    
  
 _He would put her out of his mind as she had him, and enjoy the bright sunshine, the likes of which had never been seen in Paris skies._    
  
 **Summary: Chapter VII**    
  
Scott is growing bored with the de Martin villa, and anxious over Allison, who still has not written him from Paris. Sensing his discontent, Lydia, who has once again quarreled with Jackson, declares her intent to host a grand ball in two weeks’ time. Scott is temporarily distracted with worry over his finances, as the money he borrowed from Derek Hâle is running short, but Jackson offers to give him the money for a new suit in return for…   
  
… **Chapter VIII**    
  
…confronts her, and after he threatens violence as Jackson suggested, Lydia admits to having ordered the servants to bring all of Scott’s mail directly to her. She gives him a stack of letters, which includes several letters from Allison and four letters from Stilinski, and Scott storms out of the villa, declaring that he will not attend the ball the next evening.   
  
Later, in a secluded cove along the beach, Scott is wracked with guilt over…   
  
… **Chapter IX**    
  
…turns to Stilinski’s letters. The first one is very long, and describes many mundane goings-on in Paris in Scott’s absence, which Scott skims over. It also briefly discusses Derek Hâle, who Stilinski claims to have met at a bar, and his uncle Peter.   
  
The next three letters grow increasingly shorter. Stilinski is increasingly worried about “the problem of Peter,” and asks Scott’s advice several times. He also expresses concern for Scott’s safety, if Peter should learn of the loan that Derek gave to…   
  
…noting that the four letters were all written within weeks of each other, but the last is dated a full month ago, and resolves to confront Lydia again.   
  
Jackson and Daniel find Scott along the beach. Jackson violently grabs Scott and demands that he appear at Lydia’s ball, as part of their arrangement. Scott agrees.   
  
  
 **Analysis: Chapters VII-IX**    
  
Scott’s obsession with Allison is a constant presence in the novel. It frequently overpowers Scott’s awareness of his own situation or the more precarious dramas continuing around him. This distraction repeatedly allows Scott to be manipulated as a pawn in these greater intrigues, but simultaneously insulates him from any consequences that do not directly involve Allison. Even her absence from the holiday in Sainte-Marie-Sur-Mer is enough to preoccupy Scott and leave him susceptible, first to Lydia’s attempts to revenge herself on Jackson, and then to Jackson’s…   
  
  
…   
  
  
 **Chapters XVIII-XX**    
  
 _“I have no loyalty to family, to justice, even to God—how can I be loyal to love?”_    
  
 **Summary: Chapter XVIII**    
  
Scott awakens and thinks about how lovely it is to wake next to Allison. Happy that their quarrel is resolved, he begins to make plans for their future and the proposal he wishes to make, once things with Derek Hâle and Allison’s aunt Katherine are resolved. He and Allison spend the day alone in Scott’s rooms, making each other promises…   
  
…that the body of Katherine Argent has been found. Scott resolves to keep this a secret from Allison, but when he arrives home he immediately changes his mind and tells her of her aunt’s death. Allison leaves…   
  
  
… **Chapter XIX**    
  
Scott goes to  _Le Souterrain_  to find out what happened between Derek and Katherine…   
  
…their plans to coordinate an assault on several prominent icons of the aristocracy, including the Argents and the de Martins…   
  
…Scott leaves, dispirited by his inability to change Stilinski’s mind. He attempts to make a plan to win Allison back.   
  
  
 **Summary: Chapter XX**    
  
Scott sleeps fitfully, and wakes in the middle of the night to see that the sky is glowing outside his window. He is confused, though he attempts to return to sleep. The next morning, he goes to the Argent home, where…   
  
…helped her father plan the attack on  _Le Souterrain_. Allison refuses to consider marriage now or, she says, any time in the future.   
  
Scott returns home, where Isaac is waiting with a message from Erica, which he says is very urgent.   
  
  
 **Analysis: Chapters XVIII-XXX**    
  
Allison’s growth from a young girl unsure of her place in the world, to a woman secure in her own power, parallels Scott’s coming-of-age story in that both Allison and Scott make and break alliances and loyalties several times over the course of the novel. Allison’s quickly-changing allegiances, shifting from her father, to Derek Hâle, and then back again, serve to underscore the constancy of Scott’s affections…   
  
…repeated motif of fire, particularly the symbolism of the fire that is used to burn down  _Le Souterrain_. The narrative description at the beginning of chapter XX is often used as the greatest example of dramatic irony in  _Les Loups d’Argent_ , as Scott muses “how like a…glowing ember” the sky appears, without any suspicion that a part of the city is actually on fire. One of the narrative techniques used here is…   
  
  
…   
  
  
 **Summary: Epilogue**    
  
Ten years after the events of the previous chapter, Scott McCall returns from England, where he has made his fortune. He means to seek out Allison, but first he stops into the same flower shop he visited in Chapter 3, where he meets Lydia. Lydia’s husband owns the flower shop. Scott mentions that Jackson died on campaign in Africa. Lydia sells Scott three red roses and tells him how to find Allison, but warns him she might not see him.   
  
Scott goes to Allison’s apartments. He arrives just as another gentleman is leaving. Allison recognizes Scott and welcomes him inside, ahead of another man who’s waiting in her parlor. Scott asks Allison once again to come away with him and move to London together, but she refuses. Scott becomes angry and offers Allison money in exchange for sex, but she slaps him. Scott leaves, still carrying the flowers, which he throws into the river.   
  
Scott finally goes down to  _Le Souterrain_ , which has been rebuilt. Inside, Boyd is the only person who recognizes them. They talk like old friends. Boyd says that Erica died several years ago of syphilis, and Isaac died not long after that in a knife fight. Boyd points out a young girl helping to sweep the floor, who he says is Erica’s daughter. Scott thinks that it is a sign of hope and life after death, and if people like Boyd can perform small acts of charity, there must be good in the human race.   
  
Scott buys another bouquet of flowers, which he leaves in front of Allison’s door with no note. He boards a ship to return to London, alone.   
  
  
——————————-  
  
  
HUMA 305: Romanticism and Realism Post-Napoleon   
  
  
ESSAY PROMPTS   
 _Les Loups d’Argent_    
  
  
Write a 5-7 page essay (double spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman, 1” margins) analyzing some aspect of the novel  _Les Loups d’Argent_. Several ideas are given below. If you wish to generate your own essay based on an idea not included on this list, topics must be approved no later than Monday of Week 7.   
 **ESSAYS DUE FRIDAY OF WEEK 8**    
  
  
The novel’s title,  _Les Loups d’Argent_ , has been translated as both ‘The Wolves Of Fortune’ and ‘The Argent Wolves’. Discuss the significance of the name Argent (French: ‘money’ or ‘silver’). Take into account Christophe Argent’s discussion of the family history on page 304. Why does he say that the name means ‘weapon’? How does this relate to the role of any one member of the Argent family?   
  
  
Pick any two or three of: Allison Argent, Lydia de Martin, Katherine Argent, Isaac LaHaine and Erica Reyes, Victoire Argent. Compare and contrast their experiences of prostitution, literal and metaphorical. Possible topics for discussion include: marriage as a transaction, freedom vs debt, the role of the pimp, and the role class plays.   
  
  
Though the entire novel takes place in France, its protagonist, Scott McCall, is an Englishman. How is the role of the outsider used to examine, illustrate, and condemn various levels of society within the book? Do not limit yourself to Scott; as an example, you may wish to consider the Argent family’s place in high society, the role of Lord Jackson Whittemore, and the court at  _Le Souterrain_  (both its place outside high society, and as a society in its own right).   
  
  
Fire and water imagery are used throughout the novel in many different contexts: the fire that burns down  _Le Souterrain_ , the ocean at Ste-Marie-Sur-Mer, the hellfire sermon in chapter 11, the repeated use of rain, just to name a few. How are these motifs used to tie the novel together? What significance or symbolism do they have? How does the contrast of fire and water enhance or mirror the narrative?   
  
  
……..   
  
  
Revolutionary Sexuality: Queer Subtext in the novel  _Les Loups d’Argent_  (final essay, HUMA 305, Romanticism and Realism Post-Napoleon)   
  
  
Throughout the ages, literature has been obsessed with the topic of sex. Authors include it, and readers scour between the lines looking for more. The particular forms that the discussion of sex may take in a novel can be as telling as those discussions themselves, in what they say about the author, the piece, and the time in which it was written. The 19th century novel  _Les Loups d’Argent_  is no exception. Though the work deals frequently, sometimes very explicitly, with the topic of heterosexual sex as a strictly commercial arrangement, it dedicates almost an equal amount of time and space to implications of queer sexuality that are never quite explicitly stated. Examples of this include the character of Daniel and his relationship with Lord Jackson Whitmore, the inclusion of Isaac LaHaine among the female prostitutes of Derek Hâle’s court, and, perhaps most strikingly and importantly, the subtextual relationship between Stilinski and Derek Hâle, which I will detail for you here…   
  
…does not resemble the physical violence present in Derek’s confrontations with his uncle or with Christophe Argent. The particular forms that violence takes between Derek and Stilinski, IE, “The first time I went into that place, I swear, I had only been there five minutes…when he grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and pressed my whole body up against the wall of the tavern,” most closely resembles some of the angrier interactions between Lydia de Martin and Jackson Whitmore…   
  
…oath to love none besides Katherine was clearly an exaggeration, based on Derek’s later interactions with several of his own prostitutes. “He stroked her head, like a master rewarding a dutiful, much-beloved hound. Isaac looked on with a strange expression that Scott took to be jealousy over Erica, which Scott thought must be a terrible thing to feel for a woman with so many lovers, until Derek reached out a hand and ran it over Isaac’s brown curls, and Scott realized with a start that it was Derek, not Erica, whose attention Isaac had been wanting…” In any case, even if this is not conclusive, there is the time between Katherine’s death and the sacking of  _Le Souterrain_ , in which Stilinski and Derek are said to have spent many hours alone together, planning the raids…   
  
  
……..   
  
  
Teacher’s notes, Revolutionary Sexuality: Queer Subtext in the novel  _Les Loups d’Argent_  (final essay, HUMA 305, Romanticism and Realism Post-Napoleon)   
  
 **An interesting set of ideas! You seem to be reaching a little too far, and I’m skeptical, but you seem very invested in this idea. SPELL WHITTEMORE PROPERLY. B-**

 

 


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